Year of the Spark: November 12 to 13
by Sparky Army
Summary: Elizabeth is avoiding John and he wants to know why.
1. Chapter 1

_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers the Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you, and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some fun--and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

A/N: So this is obviously late, but we are slowly (very slowly!) making up for missed days. This is set a little bit after Sanctuary. I had planned it out quite a bit differently than it ended up, but that seems to be a normal pattern with me. Also John and Elizabeth may not be in character, but I hope you all like it and please let me know what you think!

Distance

By saphiretwin369

John pressed the symbols on the DHD, glad to finally be going home after the mission that had lasted several days. He was looking forward to sleeping in his bed again. The mission had been an easy one, but very tiring.

The stargate kawooshed and he followed the rest of his team through the wormhole. As he reached the gate room on the other side, he noticed Elizabeth standing in the control room at her usual place she occupied to greet returning teams.

"Welcome back," she said and nodded at each of them in turn – Rodney first, then Ronon and Teyla, then John. Ronon, Rodney, and Teyla quickly left, also ready to put up their weapons, change out of uniform and relax.

John gave Elizabeth a smile, only for it to fade into a frown when she did not smile back at him, but instead turned around. She had been like that for a week now. As if she was distancing herself from him. She'd also seemed sad and he didn't think he'd seen her smile once in weeks. She had also been avoiding him. He'd tried to ignore the clues, but after a while it became clear. Several times he'd gone to the balcony while she was there only to have her immediately say she was tired and should head to bed or had work to do. Then she'd leave before he had a chance to stop her. Not for the first time he wondered what was wrong with her.

It hurt, too because he had felt a connection with her and he'd thought they had been starting to get close. He'd tried and succeeded to get past her defenses. He had broken down a few walls. She had even done the same with him.

Now it was as if they didn't even know each other anymore. At first he had thought that maybe she was just depressed about something and that maybe she just wasn't ready to open up to him, but after a couple of weeks it became obvious that she just didn't want to talk to him.

As he walked out of the gate room, John decided that that was going to change.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

John stepped up to the door and it opened automatically to reveal Elizabeth on the balcony just like he knew it would. He stepped out into the air and moved to stand next to her at the railing. She didn't say anything in greeting and they were silent for a few minutes. When Elizabeth didn't move, he actually began to have hope that she would stay. He should have known better. A moment later she broke the silence.

"I have a lot more work to do that I should get started on. I'll see you tomorrow, Major."

His heart sank. Not just because she was leaving, but also because she had called him by his rank. Again. That had been another thing she had been doing. He hadn't heard her say 'John' in ages.

"Lizabeth. Wait," he stopped her before she left, though she kept her back to him.

"Yes, Major?" she asked.

Gently he grabbed her wrist to turn her around to face him. "What's wrong?" his voice was soft.

She gave him a confused look, which he saw through easily. "What do you mean?"

He responded by giving her a look. "I mean why have you been avoiding me and why haven't you smiled?"

She looked mildly surprised but hid it quickly. "I haven't been avoiding you, Major," she denied.

"Yes. Yes you have," John insisted. "And the fact that you're calling me Major proves to me that something is up with you."

Elizabeth bit her lip and sighed. "Major, please let it go. It's nothing. Really."

John was not convinced. "If it's nothing, then why are you avoiding me?"

She didn't answer him.

"Are you mad at me?"

She looked surprised again and met his eyes for the first time. "No, John. I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression."

He wasn't sure if it was her tone of voice, the eye contact, or the fact that she had finally used his first name, but he believed her.

"Ok, if you're not mad at me, then what?"

She turned her head away and walked back to the railing.

She seemed to be debating with herself, but after a moment of hesitation, she whispered, "Because I think I love you."

John froze. He was stunned. Granted, he had developed some pretty strong feelings for her too that ran pretty deep, but he wasn't sure about love just yet. After the shocked silence passed he asked, with confusion clear in his soft voice, "Then why have you been distancing yourself from me?"

"Because I realized that we can never be together. Every time I'm with you, I – I can't help but wonder what it'd be like to be with you. And it hurt every time I laughed or smiled with you knowing that you could never be more than a good friend to me. So I figured why torture myself?" By this time, silent tears were running down her cheeks.

John placed his hands on the sides her face and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Why _can't _we be together?" he wanted to know.

"Lots of reasons," she sniffed. "For one it probably wouldn't be appropriate for us to be in a relationship. I'm your boss. And then there's you."

"What about me?"

"John, I'm not really your type." She shifted her eyes away from his face. "I doubt you love me back."

"You're not my usual type," he admitted, "but maybe that's why none of my previous relationships have ever worked out." He paused. "And I don't love you. Yet. But I very well could. I care for you a lot, Lizabeth."

Her tears slowed to a stop, for which he was grateful. "And as for a relationship between us being inappropriate, I say screw the IOA. As long as it doesn't interfere with our jobs. We can even keep it quiet if you want."

She returned her eyes to his. "Are you being serious, John?"

"Completely."

She smiled at him then and he was glad to finally see it. "So what even brought all this on?" he wondered out loud.

She closed her eyes. "After I heard about you and Chaya, I started thinking about it. I hated the thought of you being with her and I realized I was jealous," she admitted. "Then I got to thinking about us being together and it just seemed impossible to me."

He nodded in understanding. "We'll work it out, ok? I promise."

"Then can I ask you to do something?"

"Of course."

She grinned. "Kiss me."

And he did. His lips descended upon hers as they shared their first kiss.


End file.
